Driving With Music: Cognitive-Behavioural Implications

Warren Brodsky

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781317147817
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Human-Computer Interaction
• Index: Computer Science

This book, the first full-length text on the subject, explores the everyday use of music listening while driving a car. It presents the relationship between cars and music in an effort to understand how music behaviour in the car can either enhance driver safety or place the driver at increased risk of accidents. A great deal of work has been done to investigate and reduce driver distraction and inattention, but this book is the first to focus on in-cabin aural backgrounds of music as a contributing factor to human error and traffic violations. Driving With Music begins by outlining the automobile, its relationship to society, and the juxtaposition of music with the automobile as a complete package. It then highlights concepts from the fields of music perception and cognition, and, within this framework, looks at the functional use of background music in our everyday lives. Driver music behaviours - both adaptive and maladaptive - are explored, with the focus on contradictions and ill-effects of in-car music listening. To conclude, implications, applications and countermeasures are suggested.

Chapter 1
Automobility: Car Culture and Popular Music

This chapter is the first of two background chapters. As an introduction to the subject matter of the book, the text explores the culture of automobiles within a historical framework, illustrating the social embracement of the automobile as an integral component of everyday life. Then, the chronological development of car-audio from the 1920s is outlined. Finally, the chapter targets the interface between music and the automobile as seen through popular culture. Cars-&-music have truly become a highly widespread predominant and overbearing constituent of our modern times.

1–1. Automobility and Car Culture

We live in an autocentric culture, a society preoccupied with automobility. Many sociological studies (Gartman, 2004; Gilroy, 2001; Paterson, 2007; Thrift, 2004) point out that the automobile, introduced to Euro-American societies over a century ago, has long become the most common feature of our everyday lives. Gartman declares that automobility exerts a highly specified form of domination over almost every society across the globe. As mass motorization quickly spread throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the motorcar became the overriding form of daily movement throughout the world, and an autocentric culture could already be recognized (Sheller, 2004). By the 1950s the car could no longer be seen as a simple object that was constructed and/or purchased by consumers but rather was grasped as part of a wide-ranging system relating to developing technologies and communal habituation. Social scientists such as Wright and Curtis (2005) observe that by the 1960s, humans were living a ‘car-based lifestyle’ in which the automobile reflected social and cultural forces that transformed our everyday life and environment. Moreover, automobility appears to emulate a social structure that greatly reconfigured human civilization, as we know it today. Wollen (2002) explored the extent to which the automobile had affected human behaviour and concluded that the invasiveness of the motorcar has been so profound that it is seen to have inspired the food we eat, the music we listen to, the risks we take, the places we visit, the errands we run, the emotions we feel, the movies we watch, the money we spend, the stress we endure, and the air we breath.

Certainly, car travel imparts benefits that go beyond the functionality of mobility. More than a means to get from one place to another, the automobile embodies symbolic and affective values (Sheller, 2004; Steg, 2005; Steg & Gillford, 2005; Steg, Vlek, & Slotegraaf, 2001). When we imagine our favourite car, sign a contract of purchase, or actually go for a ride, a host of feelings flood our minds and heart. We might envision comfort, freedom, individualism, speed, power, and privacy. Thereafter, we might experience the seductive desire of ownership, the hedonistic pleasure of driving, an aggressive control over a powerful engine, the exhilarating thrill of speed, the belligerent outburst of road rage, and the comforting sanctuary of a safely designed automobile. Moreover, the car is also a platform for self-expression on both conscious and unconscious levels. Particular brands serve us as icons of fashion and style, while trademarks symbolize our professional status, and models are seen to mirror our financial achievements. For some people even the vehicle types themselves (such as the sedan, sport, convertible, coupe, hatchback, SUV, pickup, van, hybrid, and crossover) link to social affiliations, subcultures, gender roles, and sexual orientation (Dittmar, 2004). A Roper survey from 2004 found that 46% of Americans reported their car as the object that most reflects their personality and individuality (Lutz & Fernandez, 2010). In short, the automobile has truly evolved as a ‘looking glass’ to our being.

1–1.1. Production, Consumption, and Usage of the Car

We can only but feel at awe when considering the momentous proportions of car production, ownership, and usage since its promotion. During the twentieth century one billion cars were manufactured, and by the turn of the millennium there were over 500 million cars on roads worldwide (Urry, 1999, 2004, 2006). Between 1970–1990, the number of kilometres travelled by private cars per capita increased by 13% in the United States, and by 90% in Western Europe (Steg & Gillford, 2005). The 1990 USA average number of passenger miles was 11,589 miles, which at the time was more than double the Western European average of 5,420 miles. Vanderbilt (2008) presents figures indicating this rise in incidence: In 1951 there were about 49 million cars in America, and by 1960 the average American drove 21 miles a day, but in 1999 there were already 200 million cars on US roads and in 2001 the distance increased fourfold to 32 daily miles. Although the American population increased by 50% between 1950–1980, automobile ownership for the same period increased un-proportionally by 200% (Joo, 2007). By 1990 the number of vehicles in the world grew to 600 million (Steg & Gilford, 2005), and by 2004 there were 700 million cars on highways, freeways, and thoroughfares (Urry, 2004, 2006). In the USA alone, between 1999–2005 over 800,000 new vehicles were sold. A similar picture is seen for Britain where car use more than doubled after the 1960s, when as few as 29% of households had the regular use of a car, but by 1999 72% of households owned an automobile (Dant, 2004). Then, in 2004 70% of the UK population held driving licences, and there were nearly 23 million cars on British motorways. More recent appraisals reveal that automobile use has continued to increase during the last decade. For example, Gatersleben (2012) details the fact that by 2008 the average UK resident spent an annual ten hours cycling, 70 hours walking, and 70 hours on public transportation – all the while spending 230 hours per year in a car.

A survey by the Arbitron/Edison Media Group from 2003 found that Americans were spending about 11 hours in the car per week on weekdays and 4 hours per weekend day – that is roughly 15 hours per week or 14% of all waking hours. Consequently, commute times in 2003 averaged 51 minutes (a 14% increase from 45 minutes during 1990–2000) and covered about 307 miles per week. Arbitron/Edison report that the time spent in a car (roughly 2.25 hours per day) was already triple the time people spent reading a newspaper (41 minutes), but significantly less than the time they watched television (3.25 hours). A 2007 survey reported by Vanderbilt (2008) found that Americans spent more time in traffic than they actually did on any other daily activity – including eating meals with families, going on vacation, or having sex. Accordingly, the average American spent 18.5 hours a week in the car, which is 962 hours per year or 1.5 months per year. Looking at these figures, it would seem that Americans also devoted more of their monthly earned income on driving than they did on nutrition, commodities, leisure, pleasure, or their own well-being. Considering the above, one might simply summarize that Americans spend roughly one out of six hours of their waking lives engaged in car travel (Lutz & Fernandez, 2010).

In a review on vehicle consumption Lees-Maffei (2002) delineates the expansion of car use over time. In the early 1950s heyday of American private car use, only 13% of households owned a car (1% owned a second car); by 1986 17% owned two cars (3% owned a third car); and by 1996 23% owned two cars (5% owned a third car). Another way to view this evolvement was presented by Joo (2007): There was one car per every five people in the 1930s, then one per every three people in the 1960s, and then one car per every two people in the 1970s. Lutz and Fernandez (2010) point out that by 2006 the average US household owned 2.3 vehicles, while in 2009 nine out of ten US households owned a car, with 65% of American families reporting to be multi-vehicle households (owning more than one car).

An increase in automobile ownership not only reflects the fact that there are more vehicles on motorways, but also indicates that there are simply more drivers of both sexes on the road. It may be hard to comprehend, but the social norms in 1933 only afforded 12% of women to obtain a driver’s licence. While it may be true that some women had been driving from the inception of widespread use of cars in America and England, before the 1950s it was assumed that males had an almost exclusive privilege and entitlement over the automobile. Only in the late 1950s did the proportion of American women engaged in driving a car change: In 1964 56% of males and 13% of women were licensed drivers, by the late 1970s 68% of men and 30% of women were licensed drivers, and then in 1993 the proportion was 50% to 50% (Lees-Maffei, 2002). It is surely a sign of modern times, and equality between the sexes, that figures from 2002 indicate that 42% of cars sold in the USA were bought by women.

Finally, Urry (1999, 2004, 2006) projects that by 2015 there will be roughly 1.4 million automobiles in transit worldwide, and by 2030 our children and grandchildren will live on a planet with over 1 billion cars cruising the streets. Albeit, Lutz and Fernandez (2010) claimed that already in 2008 there were 1 billion vehicles globally, and hence by 2030 there will be no less than 2 billion cars on Earth’s roadways. When looking at the bigger picture, we can see that by the year 2050 car travel will have more than tripled during the first 50 years since the turn of the millennium.

1–1.2. Historical Insights of Automobility

The car itself, and the philosophy it represents, is the basis of autonomy and self-determinism. The ‘freedom of the road’ not only allows one to travel in any direction they choose, at any time of day or night, at nearly any speed one commands but is also a vehicle of social liberty. On the one hand, automobility links together our cities and neighbourhoods, our homes, offices, factories, shops, and leisure places. Yet, on the other hand, automobility is an allegory for the complex road along which Western societies have travelled over the last two centuries in a quest for development, modernization, liberty, and equality between the classes and sexes. The car echoes where we have gone and what as humans we were able to do (Urry, 1999, 2006). Nonetheless, this road was not without potholes, alternative routes, and dead ends. Gartman (2004) quotes the 1906 New York Times that cited the worrisome attitude of US President Wilson, who regarded the class-divisive effects of the automobile as the most destructive agent that ever existed against America’s future. The development of the automobile is indeed parallel to the evolvement of our culture; the car served as the ‘vehicle of change’ as well as the platform for social reform. In Gartman’s view, there have been three ages of the automobile, each defined by a significant unique cultural logic and identity. Perhaps now, more than one hundred years after the birth of automobility, the experience of driving is so much part of our everyday experience that it has sunken into our collective unconsciousness, and we take it for granted – as if it had existed since the dawn of evolution. But, in fact, the motor vehicle is historically novel (Thrift, 2004), and should be seen as a telltale sign of who we have become.

1–1.2.1. The first stage of automobility (1900–1925)

This time period centres on the automobile as it entered American society in the late nineteenth century. During this era large specialist crafted luxury cars functioned as upper class status symbols in an elaborate game that furthered the division of the social classes (Featherstone, 2004). There was economic crisis and shared conflict in which the vehicle was inescapably linked to the struggle. Because of a very high purchase ticket, motorcar ownership was far beyond the means of anyone except the extremely affluent. The price of early vehicles was based on the skilled labour of coach-building artisans who were less attentive to the mechanical functions of the engine and steering than to the aesthetic appearance of the body; these early motorcars were created in highly elaborate styles to match the tastes of the upper classes. Wollen (2002) outlines the development of the first vehicles, which had been assembled on the technologies of the late nineteenth century: In 1869 a Belgian mechanic invented the battery-powered spark plug; in 1876–87 the four-cylinder engine was discovered and constructed using a fuel mixture compressed within the cylinder; and in 1893 the German mechanic Benz produced a commercial four-wheel car with a redesigned engine and electric ignition. At this very beginning of what was later to become the automobile age, France was the world leader in car design and production. According to Inglis (2004), although the first motorized vehicles had already been developed in Germany, by the late 1880s French industrialists (such as the bicycle manufacturer Peugeot) became the leading designers that made cars commercially viable. Yet, while the number of automotive vehicles in France rose from 300 to 14,000, by 1900, there were already more vehicles in the USA and UK than in all other European countries together.

In the early days of the American twentieth century (ca. 1906), the wealthy classes who owned motorcars more often employed them for leisure activities than for daily transport. Subsequently, the automobile became an indispensable fixture for touring, racing, and exhibiting class hierarchies by cruising down Main or Market streets. For most people the early motorcar symbolized leisure and wealth. Clearly, during the first age of the automobile entire classes of working people were denied access of ownership. Then in the 1920s, American middle-class professionals and managers began to acquire income that afforded them the ability to purchase a motorcar (albeit, most were often second-hand vehicles). These consumers also saw the motorcar as an icon for their newfound prosperity, and automobility now served them also as an outlet to publically display their social standing. Such a trend had stimulated automakers to add less expensive models to their production lines, and in doing so revolutionized methods for mass production. For example, by 1908 the Ford Motor Company introduced a new a manufacturing process based on specialized machines, and unveiled the Model T. In 1913 industrialized moving assembly lines successfully contributed to lowering prices with Ford targeting the income of upper-middle working class families. Joo (2007) explored the impact of the automobile and its culture in America. Accordingly, before the introduction of the assembly line, Ford assembled one automobile every 12.5 hours, then with mass production each vehicle required only 93 minutes, but by 1927 Ford constructed one car every minute. Such a manufacturing process reduced prices across Ford’s automobile brand. Between 1908–1924 the cost of the Model T was reduced by 60% (from $950 to $290), and a lower sticker price made ownership all the more viable to the general public. In the 1930s car sales increased by 3.5 million vehicles. At that time 80% of automobiles in the world were found in the USA. Although mass-produced American cars were still highly distinguishable from the luxury brands exclusively owned by the wealthy upper classes, such differences were of no consequence to working class consumers, for whom just having an automobile epitomized status in itself (Gartman, 2004).

Certainly the pace at which machinery and gadgets develop makes us contemplate the wonders of new technology. But, at the same time, we must question if and how these advances and devices also influence human nature and social behaviour. While it is clear that as a species we create technologies to advance our abilities, there is a possibility that the technological advancements we create also shape our species. This dualism seems to have been the way of our evolution since fire was first discovered; breakthroughs and inventive endeavours seem to have primed communal adaptation, behavioural modification, and social reform. Along these lines, we should note that when cars first arrived roads were not built for motorized transportation, and the motorcar simply joined the other more chaotic movement found in the street. Vanderbilt (2008) claims that initially, the only rule was to ‘keep to the right’, but quickly automobiles established an almighty priority over vendors, pedestrians, and most other street activity. It seems that casualty rates were unfortunately disheartening, and as Vanderbilt points out, the inhabitants of metropolitan centres had for some time been accustomed to an average four people per week killed by horses. In fact, the daily newsprints of the late nineteenth century were full of columns referring to spooked runaways who trampled pedestrians, reckless carriage drivers who paid little attention to the 5 mph speed limit, and to the overall lack of acceptance for the ‘right-of-way’. When the bicycle boomed between 1880–1900, even more fatalities occurred in public streets; these machines were fast, spooked horses to an even greater extent, and subsequently were banned altogether from main streets and pedestrian footpaths. Hence, the public eventually met the dawn of the automobile on main streets and boulevards with amazement, aloofness, and resistance. Unfortunately, many citizens (especially children) did not grasp the dangers of the motorcar till too late, and if they were not especially content to walk within narrow footways, they could have fatally been mentioned in one of the frequent early twentieth-century daily papers headlines ‘Death by Automobile’ (Wright & Curtis, 2005).

In this initial stage of automobility, qualitative differences in cars not only mirrored disparity between social classes, but also illuminated socially accepted inequalities between the sexes. Gartman (2004) points out that unlike the women who were to confine themselves to the more private domestic domain, men were expected to coexist between the domestic world and the public sphere. To further such socially accepted family roles (and sex biases), ownership and mechanical operation of a motorcar were considered befitting only for men. As automobiles were defined as masculine, during this first period of automobility, if a woman did have access to a car it was usually an electric model. Electric vehicles were highly limited in both travel distance (between battery charges) and cruising speed, and thus these models were believed more suitable for women who were not to wander too far from the proximity of their home duties.

1–1.2.2. The second stage of automobility (1925–1960)

This time period was an era of mass consumption. Although the appearance of the simple functional mass-produced car symbolized the newly standardized mass culture of working-class people, it also represented the dominant icon for trendsetters across all social classes and sexes (Urry, 1999). The automobile became the ultimate emblem of all things that could establish the ‘good life’, and in such a capacity emulated all of the images that were to be seen or heard in popular culture. Representations of motorcars surfaced in literary novels, the visual and plastic arts, Hollywood’s motion pictures, and the popular tunes of Tin Pan Alley. This second period began as North American families adopted the car as a means for touring and camping in the countryside among the wildlife. As if almost overnight, motor camps sprouted to accommodate the touring motorists, and car travel was seen as a voyage – a journey through the life and history of the land (Urry, 2006). As the real trend was to take pleasure in the process rather than go to a specific destination, the touring mode mandated one to drive slowly, to take the longer route, to stop, and to sightsee. This was also the demeanour during inter-war Britain, where car use was associated with exploring the countryside. As early as the 1920s, large numbers of campsites were established near American national parks, and patches of wilderness that had previously been frequented solely by the privileged were now available to the masses. By 1926, 400,000 vehicles per year were parking in nature grounds for extended vacations.

By the mid-1920s the three largest mass-production automakers in the USA (Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors) accounted for 72% of total automobile output worldwide. Yet, General Motors head Alfred Sloan sensed that consumers wanted more than cheap cars; he claimed that buyers would pay more for a car that went beyond basic transportation. Hence, in 1927 the La Salle became GM’s most succes...